An Appeal for Urgent Action

An Urgent Appeal to members and friends of the Presbyterian Church for Letters, from Joining Hands – Peru

We have received an appeal from our mission partners in Joining Hands – Peru to send e-letters to the White House advocating transparency in the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement which is being negotiated right now. Many of you will remember The Rev. Alexa Smith who spoke to us about his last summer, or you may have attended the Sunday forum last month. Presbyterians have already sent 700 letter to the White House, but why stop at there. Why not 1000 Presbyterians? Will you take just a moment to send a letter? Please go to the link below and sign through the Office of Public Witness:

While globalization may make international trade easier, it often produces uneven outcomes for those in poorer countries who cannot compete and those in richer countries whose jobs are exported. The church has never accepted a marketplace free of moral concerns and the ever escalating numbers of poor are of deep concern for the church and its ministries. Yet, the largest free trade agreement ever drafted, the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement (TPP), is scheduled to be finalized in October – and the public knows little about its contents. This church is calling for more transparency in trade negotiations and for giving Congress more oversight of the process. Please sign this letter to President Obama pushing for more transparency. After all, a central witness of the church has always been shedding light.

Also, here’s a link to the trade page of the Joining Hands Initiative of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, where there is a synopsis of the TPP. It now includes 12 countries, including Japan.

www.pcusa.org/trade. There is also a webinar on that link that goes into how we found ourselves in this conversation, out of environmental calamity in Peru.